We wrongly assumed that things would be safe in our neighbourhood despite several assurance from our neighbours who have been around for 10 yrs or so. Our kids 2 week old bicycle and scooter were nicked last night as I forgot to close the garage door.
So much for security here. Well this happens everywhere and lesson learnt painfully!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Studying Again
Those of you who knows me will know that I have keen self interest in both Education and Philosophy. I visited Macquarie Uni yesterday during their open day and obtain some information on studying an Undergraduate Major in Philosophy.
Once I'm more settled, I'll attempt to do so via Open Universities in Australia for this program. The Open Uni in Australia is NOT a Uni per se like the Open University in the UK. It is merely a loose body consisting of several unis in Aust offering their individual program. At the end of the day, one gets a degree from the university that offer their program and not the Open Uni in Aust which is NOT a degree granting body unlike the Open U in the UK.
Once I'm more settled, I'll attempt to do so via Open Universities in Australia for this program. The Open Uni in Australia is NOT a Uni per se like the Open University in the UK. It is merely a loose body consisting of several unis in Aust offering their individual program. At the end of the day, one gets a degree from the university that offer their program and not the Open Uni in Aust which is NOT a degree granting body unlike the Open U in the UK.
Driving Test
We'll after going thru 2 hours of practical instructions from qualified instructors, I sat for my driving test on the road and passed on that attempt.
Well what does one have to do to get a full conversion?
1. Find an instructor who's willing to teach a season overseas driver, i.e. conversion of driving licence.
2. Practice what is taught whilst driving daily. This is difficult as one is always pressured from other drivers to drive like them without displaying the L or P plate. One does not get an L or P plate while driving daily with an overseas driving licence FYI. Its good and bad at the same time.
3. Read the booklet from the RTA a few times to familiarise oneself with the rules, regulations and recommendations.
4. Go thru the route and other requirements as many times as possible. Things to look out for may include 3 seconds distance with the front car, kerbside parking, reverse and headturns, observations check frequently, yellow lights etc.
5. Sit for the driving test after going through the above.
If one passes the exam, be prepared to present oneself to a camera to have one's photo taken a part with $151 for a 5 years licence. The 1 or 3 years licence is more expensive on a per year basis, so try to avoid them if possible.
I don't claim to be an expert and neither is this blog an attempt to do so but merely a "how to" for people moving to Sydney.
Another tip, please make sure you have an old licence to prove one has been driving for more than three years to fulfill the full conversion criteria or else one needs to go throught the L or P process before full conversion.
With a NSW driving licence, I finally have a "real" photo ID from NSW Government.
Well what does one have to do to get a full conversion?
1. Find an instructor who's willing to teach a season overseas driver, i.e. conversion of driving licence.
2. Practice what is taught whilst driving daily. This is difficult as one is always pressured from other drivers to drive like them without displaying the L or P plate. One does not get an L or P plate while driving daily with an overseas driving licence FYI. Its good and bad at the same time.
3. Read the booklet from the RTA a few times to familiarise oneself with the rules, regulations and recommendations.
4. Go thru the route and other requirements as many times as possible. Things to look out for may include 3 seconds distance with the front car, kerbside parking, reverse and headturns, observations check frequently, yellow lights etc.
5. Sit for the driving test after going through the above.
If one passes the exam, be prepared to present oneself to a camera to have one's photo taken a part with $151 for a 5 years licence. The 1 or 3 years licence is more expensive on a per year basis, so try to avoid them if possible.
I don't claim to be an expert and neither is this blog an attempt to do so but merely a "how to" for people moving to Sydney.
Another tip, please make sure you have an old licence to prove one has been driving for more than three years to fulfill the full conversion criteria or else one needs to go throught the L or P process before full conversion.
With a NSW driving licence, I finally have a "real" photo ID from NSW Government.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Driving Licence
Well after arriving here, one is given 3 months to convert to a NSW driving licence. What does one need to do?
First thing, is get it translated at the Community Relations Commission which costs A$107 if done within 24 hours but less over 1 or 3 weeks.
Then go to the RTA to get the documents vetted and entered into the system to sit for a computer based Drivers Knowledge Test. Obviously one's got to prepare for this online test which if is done prior to the test can help in getting a perfect score. One must always aim for a perfect score as some sections only allow ONE error and beyond this one error will result in a failure immedately and A$37 for a resit.
Once you pass the Knowledge Test, you should register for a practical on the road test which again requires some preparation with a driving instructor. It costs me A$55/hr for one lesson and one's got to discard out some old habit from driving all these years in order to pass the test which has a passing threshold of 90% score.
Well, my test is in 2 weeks time, and I'll update what happens then.
First thing, is get it translated at the Community Relations Commission which costs A$107 if done within 24 hours but less over 1 or 3 weeks.
Then go to the RTA to get the documents vetted and entered into the system to sit for a computer based Drivers Knowledge Test. Obviously one's got to prepare for this online test which if is done prior to the test can help in getting a perfect score. One must always aim for a perfect score as some sections only allow ONE error and beyond this one error will result in a failure immedately and A$37 for a resit.
Once you pass the Knowledge Test, you should register for a practical on the road test which again requires some preparation with a driving instructor. It costs me A$55/hr for one lesson and one's got to discard out some old habit from driving all these years in order to pass the test which has a passing threshold of 90% score.
Well, my test is in 2 weeks time, and I'll update what happens then.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
What's Next?
After your permanent home address, then you can get a real life.
First its medicare registration, then school for the kids, ATO, bank account and get a car. Despite moving from possibly one of the most expensive places to BUY a car (not own a car), I found Aust to be relatively expensive place to buy a car and also own a car. Relative means in comparison with UK or USA is what I mean.
A Honda City for example would set one back for A$22-25K which is not much different from M'sia and maintenance is generally higher. Other cars though do not have this issue but Honda are relatively expensive in Australia in comparison with other makes.
Once you have settled down with a house, then there is the whole works of upfitting the house. Remember when we arrived, we only had suitcases totalling 110kg.
We started with HarveyNorman for whitegoods and Ikea for furniture but ended up with various other places, Forty Winks for beds/mattress, 2nds World for Whitegoods, No96 for Sofas, Myers for Sofas/DiningSets which were on sale then and a place in Hurstsville for Chinese cookingwares.
More to follow...
First its medicare registration, then school for the kids, ATO, bank account and get a car. Despite moving from possibly one of the most expensive places to BUY a car (not own a car), I found Aust to be relatively expensive place to buy a car and also own a car. Relative means in comparison with UK or USA is what I mean.
A Honda City for example would set one back for A$22-25K which is not much different from M'sia and maintenance is generally higher. Other cars though do not have this issue but Honda are relatively expensive in Australia in comparison with other makes.
Once you have settled down with a house, then there is the whole works of upfitting the house. Remember when we arrived, we only had suitcases totalling 110kg.
We started with HarveyNorman for whitegoods and Ikea for furniture but ended up with various other places, Forty Winks for beds/mattress, 2nds World for Whitegoods, No96 for Sofas, Myers for Sofas/DiningSets which were on sale then and a place in Hurstsville for Chinese cookingwares.
More to follow...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
First Things First
After our 1 1/2 mths here, we are now nearly settled. So what does one need first before one can get started with life in Australia?
The most important thing is a permanent address with a proof of one. The best thing unless you've got cash to buy a permanent home, is a tenancy agreement. Without one, you can't get a phone, internet, open a bank, get a credit card, register for medicare, buy a car, register for school, register with ATO etc...
It's the single most important thing to get before anything else. We found out this when we arrived here on the first week! And amazingly we rented a house within a week of our arrival despite the shortage situation where we live.
More to follow...
The most important thing is a permanent address with a proof of one. The best thing unless you've got cash to buy a permanent home, is a tenancy agreement. Without one, you can't get a phone, internet, open a bank, get a credit card, register for medicare, buy a car, register for school, register with ATO etc...
It's the single most important thing to get before anything else. We found out this when we arrived here on the first week! And amazingly we rented a house within a week of our arrival despite the shortage situation where we live.
More to follow...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Telecom Services
Finally we rescinded one mobile internet after making official complain to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman TIO. Hence we have got a land line and now a land internet too...so more postings in time about what happened during our move to Sydney and the phone-line experiences.
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